We found 37 items that match your search.
A College in the City
This report, commissioned by Dr. William Birenbaum, then the president of the Educational Affiliate of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and later the first president of Staten Island Community College, argues that urban institutions of [...]
Oral History Interview with Sandi Cooper
In this 2018 interview Sandi Cooper, history professor emerita, reflects on her six decade-long involvement with the university, its students, and the faculty senate. Cooper, whose research specialty focuses on peace studies, spent the majority of [...]
Oral History Interview with Stuart Schaar
This interview with Stuart Schaar, Professor Emeritus of Middle East History at Brooklyn College, was conducted by Douglas Medina for his research on Open Admissions at CUNY. Stuart Schaar was raised in the Bronx and attended the City College of [...]
Oral History Interview with Khadija DeLoache
Khadija DeLoache entered City College in the fall of 1966 with support from the CUNY Seek program. In this oral history, DeLoache discusses growing up in Harlem, her experience as a student activist, and the development of the Black Studies [...]
Oral History Interview with Henry Arce
In this interview conducted about CUNY’s Open Admissions program, Arce describes his journey from the NYC Public School system to graduating from college. He credits his mother, who raised him alone in a Puerto Rican, immigrant community, for [...]
Oral History Interview with Allen Ballard
This oral history interview was conducted on April 4, 2014 at SUNY Albany. Allen Ballard grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and arrived at the City College of New York in 1960 as an assistant professor of Political Science. He was one of the [...]
Oral History Interview with Blanche Wiesen Cook
Blanche Wiesen Cook, Eleanor Roosevelt biographer, grew up in the Bronx and Queens, and attended Hunter College as an undergraduate when it was an all female school. She treasured her time learning from Ruth Weintraub and Mina Rees, whom she [...]
Statement of Policy by the Board of Higher Education
This "statement of policy", attached to the minutes from a meeting of the Board of Higher Education on July 9, 1969, reflects the culmination of negotiations between college officials and protesting City College students. The students, most of whom [...]
Press Release from Black and Puerto Rican Student Community
This press release, written by protesting black and Puerto Rican students at City College on April 26, 1969, offers insight into the group's motivation behind their protests in the preceding months. Arguing for CCNY to better serve its surrounding [...]
Newton Hall Statement
“We as white students, can either be a part of the solution or a part of the problem. At Huey P. Newton Hall of Political Action we are attempting to become a part of the solution.” In solidarity with black and Puerto Rican students, a group of [...]
Five Demands
This handout, created by a group of protesting City College students, offers insight into the motivations behind a campus-wide strike in April/May 1969. Black and Puerto Rican students, as well as white supporters, demanded the college meet these [...]
Janet Mayes: An Oral History of the CCNY 1960’s SEEK Program
In this oral history interview, Janet Mayes, a City College SEEK writing teacher reflects on her experiences with the program. Mayes joined CCNY in the spring of 1967, making her one of the seven original SEEK writing lecturers. She co-taught a SEEK [...]
Oral History Interview with Members of The Newt Davidson Collective
Audio and transcription of oral history interview with Nanette Funk, Jerry Markowitz, Bill Tabb, and Mike Wallace, four of the original members of The Newt Davidson Collective.
"...The importance of going on and getting education for police" - An Oral History Interview with Mayor John Lindsay
Mayor Lindsay is interviewed in his Manhattan office on October 26, 1988 by Professor Jerry Markowitz for Educating for Justice, a history of John Jay College. Lindsay discusses the importance of accessible higher education, and educating police [...]
Oral History Interview with Bill Friedheim and Jim Perlstein of Borough of Manhattan Community College
This oral history interview with retired Borough of Manhattan Community College professors Bill Friedheim and Jim Perlstein was conducted at the CUNY Graduate Center on June 1, 2015. Friedheim and Perlstein were intimately involved in many of the [...]
CUNY SEEK and Open Admissions Oral Histories
This is a website of oral histories by CUNY students and teachers telling stories about the founding and early years of SEEK at City College. It also contains stories about teaching writing in the first decade of Open Admissions across CUNY.
SEEK Matters, Spring 1969
SEEK Matters, a bilingual literary magazine produced by the SEEK University Center in 1969 published student essays, poems and illustrations that reflected their experiences. Short for "Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge," SEEK was [...]
A Proposal for the Establishment of Community College Number Seven
This proposal for the founding of Community College Number Seven (later named Medgar Evers College) was put forward by the Board of Higher Education in November 1967. In this excerpt (pages 11-15), the Board establishes their desire to place a new [...]
Minutes of Proceedings: Establishing Community College Number Seven
In these minutes of proceedings from a January 22, 1968 meeting of the Board of Higher Education, the Board resolves to create the "Committee to Seek Presidents for Community Colleges Seven and Eight." The committee is first tasked with filling the [...]
Press Release – A New Experimental College
In this press release, The City University of New York's Office of University Relations announces the creation of a new, experimental, two-year college to be "established on a community-oriented basis in central Brooklyn." The press release [...]
"Julius Edelstein, 93, Dies; Devised CUNY's Open Admissions"
This New York Times obituary describes the career of former Vice-Chancellor Julius C. C. Edelstein, one of the primary architects of the open admissions policy at CUNY.
Proposal to Plan and Implement Departmental Programs for Community College No. 7
This document describes previous authorizations regarding the creation of Community College No. 7 (Medgar Evers College) and three additional community colleges. It goes on to detail one of the more unique features of the college: a community [...]
Minutes of the Board of Higher Education - November 25, 1968
These minutes of proceedings from the November 25, 1968 meeting of the Board of Higher Education record the establishment of new admissions criteria for CUNY four-year institutions as well as university-wide budget requests for the following year. [...]
The First Student to Register for BMCC
This 1964 photograph depicts the first student to register at the newly-created Borough of Manhattan Community College.
Report of the Citizens' Commission on the Future of the City University of New York
In November 1969, CUNY's Board of Higher Education formed and tasked the Citizens' Commission to "study the future of the University in all its aspects." Their analysis resulted in the creation of an extensive report in 1971 that detailed the [...]
Crisis at CUNY
As the 1970s wore on, students and faculty at CUNY found themselves faced with an ominous environment. While the open admissions struggle of the late 1960s represented a signal achievement in the struggle to secure democratic access to quality [...]
Oral History Interview with Former CUNY Chancellor Albert Bowker (Tapes 2-4)
In this oral history interview, conducted in May 1985, Julius C. C. Edelstein interviews former CUNY Chancellor Albert Bowker. Both men were administrative architects of CUNY's Open Admissions policy. This transcript was compiled from tapes 2-4 of [...]
"Brooklyn College Defends Actions"
In May 1968, 42 demonstrators were arrested following a 16-hour sit-in at the Brooklyn College registrar's office. Their goal was to secure the admission of greater numbers of black and Puerto Rican students to the mostly-white college. In this New [...]
"Maybe I had a little something to do with making this all possible" - An Oral History Interview with Mayor Robert F. Wagner on the Creation of John Jay College
In this October 5, 1988 interview, Robert F. Wagner, Jr., New York’s mayor from 1954 to 1965, speaks with Professor Jerry Markowitz in preparation for Educating for Justice, a history of John Jay College. Wagner recounts New York’s early efforts [...]
Teaching at John Jay College in its Early Years: An Oral History Interview with William Walker
This 1988 interview with Professor William S. Walker was conducted by Professor Jerry Markowitz in preparation for Educating for Justice, a history of John Jay College. Walker, a professor of sociology and criminology, was among the original faculty [...]
"Before Open Admissions there was a lot of the haves and the have-nots." – An Oral History Interview with Donal Farley
Following almost 10 years at the NYC Budget Bureau, Donal Farley began his employment at CUNY Central in 1967 as Assistant to the first Vice Chancellor for Campus Planning and Development Seymour Hyman. Under Chancellor Albert Bowker, he eventually [...]
Oral History Interview with Lenina Nadal
In this interview, Lenina Nadal discussed her experiences in the middle of the 1990s in the Coalition Against the Cuts and as an original member of the Student Liberation Action Movement (SLAM!). She highlighted the importance of SLAM! being a women [...]
June 1968 Draft Statement for the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services (B-SCENS)
In this June 1968 statement drafted for the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services (B-SCENS), Dr. Dave Berkman, Steering Committee member of the B-SCENS, presents demands for a new public college planned in and for central [...]
Minutes of Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services Community July 11, 1968, Meeting with Negotiation Team
On July 11, 1968, the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services held a community meeting, at which the five-member Negotiation Team, appointed to represent them in planning Community College 7 with City of New York (CUNY) [...]
December 2, 1970 CUNY Press Release Announcing Medgar Evers: New College in Central Brooklyn
On December 2, 1970, the City University of New York issued a press release announcing that a new college planned in and for Central Brooklyn, referred to in previous plans and documents as “Community College 7,” would be named for Civil Rights [...]
May 3, 1968, Faculty Council Minutes Supporting a Proposal to Integrate Brooklyn College
As the demand for Open Admissions intensified throughout the CUNY system, Faculty Council Minutes from May 3, 1968, document a discussion regarding the increased enrollment of a more racially, ethnically and culturally reflective and responsive [...]
Oral History Interview with Irwin Yellowitz
This oral history interview was conducted by Bill Friedheim on November 5, 2014 at the offices of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC). Irwin Yellowitz discusses his experience as a professor of history at City College of New York, events [...]